The first thing Paul August noticed when he drove into the small and charming town of Nevada City was the ample parking. Then August put a quarter in the parking meter.

"It hit one hour, paused, and then it went to two hours," August marveled. "Coming from the Bay Area, I thought I had hit the jackpot. One quarter gives me two hours!"

August and his wife, Muriel, both retired from teaching careers in the Oakland public schools, moved in 2005 from Oakland to North San Juan, a town of about 260 people situated in Nevada County along Highway 49, an area made famous by the California Gold Rush.

The Augusts were ready for a new chapter in their lives, one that took them away from the daily headaches that came with work, traffic, constant rushing and relentless noise. They also wanted a place where expenses were lower and houses offered more space and privacy.

"When I came here, the silence was beautiful," said August, standing on his 26 wooded acres. "Now when I go back to the Bay Area and get out of my car, the first thing I notice is the noise - the sirens, jackhammers, cars."

But, August said, life in the woods is not for everyone.

"There are definite trade-offs," he said with a laugh. "In the Bay Area, if you want heat, you go to the thermostat, set it and pay your bill. Here, we have no central heating. We have a wood stove. If you want heat, you've got to do a lot of work. The wood is free; it falls in the forest and I collect it. You've got to learn to handle a log splitter and a chain saw, and be prepared to leave a nice warm room to go to the woodshed to get it. But when I step out into that cold, crisp country air, the stars are shining and the moon is bright."

There is no cell phone reception or cable service on the property, and Internet is delivered by DSL. Their water comes from a well, and their sewer system is a septic tank that costs nothing. The town of North San Juan consists of a used-book and clothing store, a cafe that serves as a gathering spot, a small grocery store, bar, pizza place, gas station, post office and plant nursery.

"Some websites have classified us as a ghost town because North San Juan had 10,000 people back around 1850," August said. "But we're very much alive."

Paul and Muriel August began visiting the area in the 1960s - Muriel's parents lived there - and the two were married at a small church near North San Juan.

"We always planned to retire here," August said, trailed by his 6-year-old border collie, Tip, named for the white tip on his tail. In 2005, when real estate prices were soaring, August watched as old homes similar to theirs in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland prompted bidding wars.

"My old home was a regular $250,000 home, and I talked to my real estate agent, and he put it on the market for $590,000," August said, still incredulous. "We got an offer of $569,000 and I took it. We still had a small mortgage on it, but it was more money than I expected to see in my life."

In the meantime, Muriel's parents had died and left them their cabin in the woods, with the glorious 26 acres. "We moved to a property with no mortgage," he says.

A guitar player, aspiring writer and self-professed "neoliberal rabble-rouser," August said he envisioned retirement to be full of writing and singing. He has a small cabin behind his house, but spends little time there. He goes to the local cafe to play his guitar.

"I do a little freelance writing for the local paper," he said. "But I find it very difficult to stay inside and write. There's too much beauty, and too much to do, outdoors." The two have tried gardening, but find the wildlife stronger than any netting they install.

"We have these mutant gophers up here that will just suck the plant, roots and all," he said. "We also have deer, opossums, weasels, raccoons and the occasional mountain lion."

When they moved into the house in 2005, they could stand on their property and not see a single light anywhere.

Joking, August said, "Now the neighborhood has gone to hell. Now I can see a few lights out there in the distance."

As summer approaches, August is thankful for something else.

"One thing I really don't miss about the Bay Area is the fog," he said. "My whole life during the summer was the fog. Here, I wake up on a summer morning, and I see the sun all day. The evenings are warm and the stars are bright."

Before heading out for a hike with his dog, he added, "Living here is a trade-off. There are things we don't get that we had in the Bay Area. But there's so much that we get. I'm never leaving here."